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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 2 Hansard (29 February) . . Page.. 396 ..

MR STEFANIAK (Minister for Education) (5.09), in reply: Last week an event occurred which will be of significance in Australian history; that is, Interfet ceased doing the job it had been doing exceptionally well. I would like to pay tribute to the 6,000 or more men and women of the Australian Defence Force who did a magnificent job in East Timor. Interfet had its genesis in September of last year. We all remember the horrific scenes of the militia running rampant after East Timor voted to become independent. Hundreds, probably thousands, of people were killed. Within a very short space of time, about two or three weeks, Interfet was created. The politicians in Australia did a good job in acting quite quickly there. The allies also came to the party fairly effectively. Much was said about the actions of the United States. Whilst they did not provide a huge amount of military support, obviously they lent on the Indonesian Government and that was very important in terms of assisting in the initial deployment of our troops.

I come now to the role of our troops, many of whom come from Canberra and many of whom have been rewarded by things such as being awarded honours in the Australia Day honours list and through the general attitude of the Australian public, which has been one of intense gratitude for a job well done. Over 6,000 troops participated in Interfet. I think they performed to the highest traditions of the Australian Defence Force. They found themselves in an incredibly difficult situation. Indeed, prior to their arrival there, a number of local members of the AFP found themselves in probably an even more difficult situation. Although unarmed, they were responsible for saving the lives of probably hundreds of East Timorese by staring down, through sheer personality and moral force, some militia in very dangerous situations.

Getting back to the troops, they performed exceptionally well and brought peace very quickly to a very troubled and incredibly devastated land. The fact that they were able to do so with only two fatalities, both of which were not battle related, and only several battle-related injuries speaks volumes for their ability, their training, and the way they went about their job. That they achieved their aim with only six known deaths in the Indonesian militia and military forces was most impressive. They were exceptionally well led by Major General Peter Cosgrove, who must go down in Australian military history as one of the greatest generals since Monash. Being a very modest man, he pays full tribute to the magnificent troops he had under his command, but I think that both the commander and the troops are deserving of the accolades that they have received.

I might just make some mention of the Indonesians. Whilst some horrendous activities occurred in East Timor immediately prior to and after the actual vote, there were some good signs there, including the fact that the Indonesians complied, although reluctantly, with the UN pressure to let Interfet go in. In one particular incident that springs to mind there were a couple of fatalities on the Indonesian side, but the very prompt action of an Australian regular army corporal and a second lieutenant in the Indonesian Army defused a situation that could have got completely out of hand. That is a very hopeful sign for the future.

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